Page 16 of Lured

I paused, shaking and trying to process the events of the night so far. Although it wasn't very late, I knew that it was also going to be difficult to complete my task tonight. But I didn't know if Ludis would stay in Vegas after tonight. It wasn't where the don he was associated with operated.

And while I had gained a little bit of money from gambling at the blackjack table, I had been lucky, and probably helped by the man beside me. I knew that it was uncommon to walk away from a table like that with any real level of wealth and in a city like this, the money didn't last long.

I had to try to finish the job tonight. But I was scared. The vampire I'd run from was more powerful than any I had faced. It didn't matter how much my parents had once taught me, hunting wasn't meant to be a solo job, not for those who weren't already very skilled. I hadn't completed my training and there were large gaps.

My reaction to the strong vampire had me even more concerned. I hoped it was simply because of the power a true-blood vampire had, but I hadn't been acting normally around him. He scrambled my ability to think and I found myself wanting to agree with everything he said.

This wasn't how a vampire hunter was supposed to behave.

On top of that I didn't know if this shooter was done or not. I was going to have to go see if I could find them. Anyone shooting at Ludis might be an ally I could work with. If I had any chance of rescuing this mission, having a team might be the best way of figuring this out.

After taking a couple of deep breaths to try to steady my own body and mind, I considered what I was wearing. While I could blend in dressed like this, I couldn't conceal many weapons and it was clear that I was likely to need something better than a couple of knives. But I also knew that the true-blood and several of the other vampires had gone after this shooter.

Whoever they were, they might need a bolt hole. If I could find them, then there was a chance that I could figure out the weapons and plan once I'd got them to safety. Maybe even bring them back here. If it was Laura, I wouldn't expect her to have a room, but she would also struggle to get out of the hotel without the vamps finding her.

I didn't have much to go on to find the shooter, so I couldn't waste time. Any chance of this working would mean moving fast and being aware of possible dangers I could run into along the way.

With that decided, I kept the current clothing, but grabbed a shawl and a hat to try to appear at least a little different to the vampires. I'd barely tucked my ponytail up into the hat before I was heading out of the room again.

Although I didn't know the exact room the shooter had been in, I could make a reasonable guess and I was confident of the floor, if nothing else.

I made my way down to that floor via the nearest elevators, running more possible scenarios through my head. It was now late enough that this part of the hotel was fairly quiet. It would both make me stand out more, but make it easier for me to spot any vampires before they saw me.

Although I didn't know who the shooter was, I felt as if they were the best ally I could have, and I wasn't done with this mission. Ludis had to die or I was done as a vampire hunter.

Chapter 7

Leandro

I watched as the vampire hunter ran off, sprinting for the safety of the hotel interior. I could have chased her, but I knew she was likely to be staying at the hotel and I was sure I could follow her scent anywhere. I didn't doubt that I would be able to find her later.

This night had gone from bad to worse and I already wished I had never been sent on this mission. But it was one thing to not want to play nice with other vampires, it was another to disobey a direct command from my own don. I might not want to be involved in the politics but that was exactly why I had been sent to handle this.

The guild of vampire hunters obviously considered Ludis a problem as well. Normally I would be pleased about them wanting to help take out a problem in the turned community. Might even let them deal with it for us, as they had done with many a difficult vampire who thought they could do more than they ought.

But in this case, I couldn't let them take out my vampire quarry before I'd had the chance to find out what he was up to. Cutting the head off the snake wasn't going to stop it from striking. Most vampires had people to do their bidding and in this case those people might do as they'd been instructed simply to honor Ludis.

Not that I thought he ought to be honored. But I was going to have to try to find those loyal vampires as well.

Leaving the young woman who had the guts to face her vampire enemy face on, I made my way into the hotel and straight to the elevators. The casino was still busy, but I caught the back view of Ludis and two of his vampires going into the club area where he would be safe enough for now.

A part of me wished that either the girl I'd met or the shooter had killed Ludis anyway. Picking up the pieces might be the better option, but it was a big gamble. And there was already one of the Brethren dead thanks to a jumped up turned like Ludis. I couldn't let another die on my watch.

I hurried to the floor the shooter had been on, fairly sure that I had the level right. I'd not seen who it was, but Ludis had already sent two turned up here to investigate. I hurried down the hallway on the ninth floor to see one of the vampires outside a room and checking both ways down the corridor.

“Did you manage to get into the room?” I asked as I came closer, already wishing it had been any of the lackeys but these two. In my head they were Laurel and Hardy and I didn't mean it as a compliment. One of them was taller and thinner than the other and both of them were... simple.

Sometimes vampires made a habit of turning those they admired, respected, or wanted the skills of. A strategic decision to bring someone into our fold. But there were also vampires who turned humans for the fun of it, or to spite them.

When the latter happened it led to vampires like these two. Not very bright, overly confident in their abilities and generally comically bad at everything. If I didn't need them to be good sometimes.

“We're in, but there's nothing here.” Laurel shrugged but let me past him and into the room.

“Of course there's nothing here,” I replied. “They're not going to have slept here and then shot at us. If there is anything left behind, it will be the smallest clue.”

Hardy looked at me as if I was gum he had found on the bottom of his shoe. I'd never gotten along very well with them but this was going to be a new low. They never liked it when they were forced to work with me and Ludis knew it was better if I did stuff on my own already, but this couldn't be helped.

“I'm surprised Ludis asked you to come up,” Hardy said. “We've got this and he knows it.”

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